Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

How Many Consumers Actually Have VR Headsets?

Parks Associates released new consumer research this week showing that 2 percent of U.S. broadband households, or 2.3 million households, own a virtual reality headset. The survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households reportedly reveals that 5 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a VR headset in 2016, an increase from only 1 percent who made a purchase the year prior.

“The big change in VR for 2016 has been the availability or pending availability of VR headsets from companies such as Facebook (Oculus Rift), Google (Google Cardboard) and HTC (Vive). Sony PlayStation VR is expected to be released in October. We expect gamers to be the initial market for VR,” Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates director of research, says. “VR is an immersive experience, and more is better for gamers – more immersion, better sound, better graphics, and more players. The mass market is more likely to adopt mobile VR, which will be less expensive and uses a tool – the smartphone – that the majority of U.S. consumers own.”

From the article "How Many Consumers Actually Have VR Headsets?" by Laura Hamilton.

Previously In The News

Apple explored a TV-streaming dongle as a cheap alternative to Apple TV

Apple's commitment to the high end has crimped its market share of streaming players, preventing it from dominating an exploding market. The number of households with a streaming player has quadrupled...

Roku CEO explains why Apple is breaking with tradition and putting its streaming services outside its famous walled garden

Roku held 37 percent of the market share of streaming media players as of early 2018, a Parks Associates report found, while Apple TV held 15 percent of the market share. Roku maintains dominance thro...

At CES 2019, Apple finally sets iTunes, AirPlay loose

The number of households with a streaming player has quadrupled in the last five years, according to Parks Associates, but Apple trails Roku and Amazon in market share, and it seldom discounts its pri...

Amazon Fire TV tops 30 million active users, seeming to beat Roku

The market for video streaming devices is exploding. The number of households with a streaming player has quadrupled in the last five years, according to Parks Associates, and Roku and Amazon have bee...